Method of making shoes



Nov. 16, 1965 s. SNITZER 3,217,345

l METHOD OF MAKING SHOES Filed Aug. 18. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m XW Wag/49W@ ATTORNEYS Nov. 16, 1965 Filed Aug. 18, 1961 FIG h S. SNITZER METHOD OF MAKING SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORN EYS United States Patent O 3,217,345 METHOD F MAKlNG SHOES Saul Snitzer, Worcester, Mass., assigner to B-W Footwear Company, Webster, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 18, 1961, Ser. No. 132,471 4 Claims. (Cl. 12-142) This invention relates to shoes and more particularly comprises a new and improved lightweight shoe and a method of manufacturing it.I

One important object of this invention is to provide a cemented thin sole lightweight casual shoe which has the appearance of a shoe having a sole of standard thickness and a welt construction, to give it a more pleasing style.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lightweight casual mens shoe which may be manufactured inexpensively.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide a relatively simple method of forming a toe cup in the vamp of a shoe upper, which does not wrinkle or otherwise mar the appearance of the upper.

Yet another important object of this invention is to provide a method of assembling a shoe which produces an inexpensive shoe having the appearance and quality of construction found only in shoes of considerably greater cost.

To accomplish these and other objects, the shoe of my invention includes among its many features a lightweight upper having stitched about the margin an appreciable distance above the margin edge a wrapper made of lightweight material such as cushion crepe. Stitched across the bottom of the upper below the stitching of the wrapper is an insert which together with the inner surface of the wrapper define a well or cavity on the upper bottom. The cavity receives a lightweight sole which is cemented in place and has the appearance of the wrapper material. The lower surface of the sole is coplanar with the lower edge of the wrapper. The wrapper is provided with a binder about its upper edge and is of appreciable width to suggest a thick or heavy sole and a welt-type shoe.

During the course of assembling the various parts, a twisted multi-cord thread is stitched about the margin of the vamp at the toe area with the thread under tension, and only after the stitching is completed at that area is the tension released. Relieving the tension on the thread causes it to contract and gather the toe to form a toe cup in the upper. This operation is performed only after the wrapper has been secured to the upper so that the wrapper maybe very carefully oriented with respect to the edge of the margin of the upper because the front of the vamp lies ilat. In the preferred method of making my shoe, after the binder has been secured in place and the toe of the vamp gathered by the thread stitched under tension, the insert made up of a backer, sock lining, and polyurethane layer is stitched to the upper margin beneath the stitching of the wrapper, and the sole is thereafter cemented in place.

These and other objects and features of my invention, along with its incident advantages, will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred form of shoe as well as a preferred method of making it, wherein;

FIG. l is a side view of a shoe constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. l but showing a portion of the shoe broken away to expose a part of its construction;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the corresponding section line in FIG. 2;

3,217,345 Patented Nov. 16, 1965 Fice FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing the details of construction of the shoe;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a blank vamp;

FIG. 6 is a plan View of the vamp, illustrating the manner in which it is formed with a toe cup; and

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional View taken along the corresponding section line in FIG. 6.

The shoe shown in detail in the drawings includes an upper 10 having a vamp 12, and side 14, and a bottom 16 which includes a wrapper 18, sole 24), heel 22 and insole insert 24. In the following paragraphs the several parts will be described in detail as well as the manner in which the shoe is assembled.

The wrapper 18 stitched about the margin of the upper may be made of a lightweight material such as cushion crepe, similar or identical to the sole material. The wrapper 18 is provided with a binding 26 stitched about its upper edge by a row of `stitching 28 and the wrapper with the binding is in turn sewn to the upper by stitching 30. The binder which may be approximately one inch wide is disposed with more than one-half its width overlapping the margin of the upper as is clearly evident in FIG. 3. As will be apparent, the exact position of the binder is determined by thickness of the sole used.

The insole insert 24 includes a sock lining 32 and a backer 34 which sandwich a polyurethane layer 36. The insert made up of the three layers of material may be assembled and stitched together by stitching 38 before it is assembled in the shoe. The insert in turn is sewn to the margin of the upper by the stitching 40.

The sole 20 also made of cushion crepe or other lightweight material is cemented to the bottom surface of the backer 34 of the insert and the inner surface of the wrapper 18. The sole 20 just fills the cavity formed on the bottom of the upper by the insert 24 and more particularly by its backer 34 and the wrapper 18. Thus, the lower edge 42 of the wrapper 18 and the lower surface 44 of the sole are coplanar.

In FIGS. 5-7 the manner in which the toe pocket 46 is formed in the vamp is illustrated. It will be noted in FIGS. 6 and 7 that a row of stitching 48 is shown in the margin of the vamp at the toe portion. This row of stitching is a twisted 6 or 8 cord thread having great strength. It is sewn into the blank Vamp 12 shown in FIG. 5 with the thread under tension. When the tension is relieved, the thread 48 contracts and gathers the vamp at the toe area 46 to form the pocket shown. The even tension applied to the thread 48 along its entire length causes the vamp to gather evenly so that no marked or pronounced wrinkles are formed.

Because the wrapper 18 when the shoe is assembled should appear to be an integral part of the sole 28, its lower edge should exactly reach the bottom edge of the side of the sole material. To avoid the need for trimming of the lower edge 42 of the wrapper, the wrapper must be stitched very carefully on the margin so that just the desired width overlaps the margin edge. Maximum accuracy can be achieved in positioning of the wrapper if the wrapper is secured to the upper before the toe pocket 46 is formed in the vamp so that the vamp is substantially ilat. The best results may be achieved if the shoe is assembled in the following sequence of steps. First, as separate and independent operations, the insert 24 is preassembled by securing the sock lining 32 and the backer 34 together about their periphery with the polyurethane intermediate layer in place; the upper is stitched together, namely, the vamp 12 and back 14 are joined to form the v upper; and the binding 26 is stitched to the upper edge of the wrapper 18 by means of the stitching 28.

The wrapper carrying t-he binding is secured to the margin of the upper a uniform distance above its lower edge 50. The precise distance or width of the margin overlapped by the wrapper is determined by the thickness `of the sole employed. For example, if the sole is to be 5X3 inches in thickness, the wrapper should overlap the margin by 5A of an inch assuming that the wrapper is 1 inch wide,

Only after the wrapper is stitched to the upper by the stitching 30 is the toe pocket formed in the vamp. To do this, the wrapper is turned up at the toe to expose the margin of the vamp at the toe area. With the wrapper so turned, the operator applies the stitching of twisted multicord thread 48 to the margin as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and when the thread is released the toe gathers to form the pocket. While it is somewhat inconvenient for the operat-or to gather the vamp to form the toe pocket after the wrapper has been stitched to the upper, it is nevertheless preferable that thi-s procedure be followed so that the wrapper may be stitched a uniform, accurate distance above the margin edge 5) about the entire upper.

After the toe pocket has been formed by the gathering of the vamp, the insert 24 including the sock lining 32, hacker 34, and polyurethane layer 36 are stitched in place by row of stitching 40. This yoperation is facilitated by turning the wrapper upwardly about the entire shoe to expose the margin.

The shoe thus assembled with an upper, insert and wrapper is slip lasted and the upper is then mulled or wetted and susequently placed under quartz lamps or other heaters to force dry the upper stock. It is to be noted that the upper is mulled preferably after it has been lasted, unlike the usual practices wherein the upper is mulled before lasting. By following the preferred procedure, a tighter and more intimate fit results between the upper and the la-st, and this also avoids wetting of the sock lining so that no stains, water marks or other undesirable spotting results.

After the mulling and drying operations have been completed, the sole is cemented in the cavity formed on the bottom of the upper by the overlapped portion of the wrapper 18 beyond the edge 50 of the upper. After the sole is layed, the assembled shoe may be subjected to the action of a -press to cause a rm bond to form between the sole and the upper, and thereafter the heel may be attached.

Having described my novel shoe and the preferred manner in which it is manufactured, those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications may be made of this invention without departing from its spirit. Therefore, I do not intend to limit the breadth of this invention to the specific embodiments illustrated and described. Rather, it is my intention that the 1scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of making shoes comprising the steps of providing an upper including a vamp, securing a wrapper about the margin of the vamp with a row of stitching inwardly of the marginal edge of the vamp, stitching a thread under tension about the marginal edge of the vamp outwardly of the row of stitching at the toe portion, thereafter releasing the tension on the thread and allowing the thread to gather the toe of the vamp to form a toe pocket, and next securing a preassembled insole insert and outsole to the upper.

2. A method of making shoes comprising the steps of providing an upper, stitching at about the entire margin of the upper inwardly of its marginal edge a wrapper previously provided with a binder on its upper edge, said wrapper extending outwardly beyond the marginal edge of the upper; stitching a thread under tension in the marginal edge of the upper at the toe area and outwardly of the stitching which secures the wrapper to the upper, releasing the tension on the thread to permit it to gather the upper material to form a toe pocket, thereafter stitching to the upper marginal edge outwardly of the stitching which `secures the wrapper to the upper a preassembled insole insert including a sock lining and cushion that forms with the wrapper a cavity on the bottom of the upper, and filling the cavity with outsole material.

3. A method as defined in claim 2 further characterized by sliplasting the attached upper and insole insert before lling the cavity, and thereafter mulling and force drying the sliplasted upper.

4. A method of making shoes comprising the steps of providing an upper, stitching to the marginal edge of the upper a preassembled insole, stitching a wrapper about the margin of the upper inwardly of the marginal edge of the upper before the insole insert is stitched to the upper, stitching a thread under tension in the marginal edge of the upper at the toe area and thereafter releasing the tension on the thread to allow the thread to gather the toe of the upper to form a toe pocket before the insole is stitched to the upper, slip lasting the upper and attached insole insert onto a last, thereafter mulling and force drying the upper while on the last, and securing an outsole to the lower surface of the insole insert and to the wrapper.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,769,449 7/1930 Meltzer 36-195 2,010,168 8/1935 Williams 12-142 X 2,019,544 11/1935 Riddock 12-142 2,024,167 12/1935 Kent 36-19.5 2,027,557 l/1936 Shultz 36-l9.5 2,486,995 1l/1949 Steed 36-14 X 2,554,159 5/1951 Stritter 36-l9.5 X 2,596,029 5/1952 Jonas 12-142 2,648,080 8/1953 Garofalo 12-142 2,713,691 7/1955 Meltzer 12--142 2,789,295 4/1957 Rollman et al. 12-142 2,815,589 12/1957 Sears 36-14 2,844,832 7/1958 MacKenzie et al 12-142 2,918,735 12/1959 Johnston 36-14 2,973,530 3/1961 Bromeld 12-142 JORDAN FRANKLN, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD V. BENHAM, FRANK J. COHEN,

Examiners. 

1. A METHOD OF MAKING SHOES COMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING AN UPPER INCLUDING A VAMP, SECURING A WRAPPER ABOUT THE MARGIN OF THE VAMP WITH A ROW OF STITCHING INWARDLY OF THE MARGINAL EDGE OF THE VAMP, STITCHING A THREAD UNDER TENSION ABOUT THE MARGINAL EDGE OF THE VAMP OUTWARDLY OF THE ROW OF STITCHING AT THE TOE PORTION, THEREAFTER RELEASING THE TENSION ON THE THREAD AND ALLOWING THE THREAD TO GATHER THE TOE OF THE VAMP TO FORM A TOE POCKET, AND NEXT SECURING A PREASSEMBLED INSOLE INSERT AND OUTSOLE TO THE UPPER. 